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OS/OALD & sleeping 8 hours at night

Hello again,
First of all thank you for all of your great advice so far. I have posted previously and have greatly benefitted from the advice I have received. As an update, I now have a very happy 9 week old who no longer is taking reflux medicine. She will occasionally vomit, but she is not upset by it. She actually seems much happier now that she is off the medicine. I think it just gave her really painful gas and did not help with anything else. *However I do think I have/had OS and OALD, so now I have some questions.*
1. My DD is now sleeping from between 9-10pm to between 5-6am. *Is that too much? *She is eating between 8-12 times during the day (she eats about every hour to two hours), gaining well, and having a lot of wet/dirty diapers. *Should I pump once at night in case she goes back to waking up more? *I wake up feeling very engorged, and I frequently do not sleep as much as she does because I am in pain from the engorgement. *What should I do? If my body adjusts to this new sleeping pattern, will it adjust to her waking up more if she starts to do that? *She seems to have a harder time eating in the morning because the milk comes out too fast and there is too much of it. Is there anything I can do to help? *I do laid back nursing. Should I wake her up to feed her more at night? If so, how often and for how long? *
2. I will be taking a class every Monday starting in a few weeks. I will be gone about five hours. Should I start pumping in the mornings to build up a supply? *Should I just pump the morning of the class for that night? *I am very worried that I will make my OS worse if I pump too much, so I am not sure what to do. *I would like to have some milk stored though for the class and some occasional baby sitting. * I have only pumped twice and after both times the OS and OALD seemed worse the next day, but I want to make sure DD will take the bottle when I am at class. Should I stop pumping now and trust that she will be okay? She took a bottle once, and she seemed confused, but okay with it. She really likes to comfort nurse (in the evening when the flow is slower), so I am worried that she will be upset by the bottle and my parents/husband will have a hard time while I'm gone. I'm probably just stressing too much!
Thank you for the help!
*

Re: OS/OALD & sleeping 8 hours at night

If your baby continues sleeping thru, your supply will eventually adjust. It is possible that this is a short phase and baby may or may not keep sleeping so long at night. Often, teething and distractability cause babies to wake more to nurse. As long as you keep nursing on cue your body will always adjust to demand, either way, though it may take a few days. If it were me, I'd be trying to do a dreamfeed or two during the night to keep the engorgement, leaking, and oald to a minimum (plus night-time nursing is good for keeping away your period, which for me is so worth it). Maybe sneak one last nursing in right before you go to bed yourself.

Re: OS/OALD & sleeping 8 hours at night

Your body will adjust to your baby's sleeping but it may take some time. In the meantime, if you are painfully engorged, you can wake your baby up to eat or "dreamfeed" her. In order for your supply to adjust, you will have to feel full but you don't want to push it to the point of rock hard painful breasts or you could end up with a clogged duct or mastitis. Also, enjoy the sleep while you can, it may not last!

You should be able to pump once a day (or several times) without worsening OS if you pump at the same time each day and keep an eye on your supply - don't pump longer and longer each time and back off if it seems like your OS is aggravated. As a working mom, I pumped for almost a year at work and once I found my rhythm it was fine. But you do have to be flexible and change things as needed.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.